Post-9/11 service members: Associations between gender, marital status, and psychiatric aeromedical evacuations from combat zones

ABSTRACT

Psychiatric aeromedical evacuations are one of the leading causes of medical related evacuations of US military personnel from combat. Currently, no studies have examined gender and marital status of individuals who were evacuated from combat for a psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatric aeromedical evacuation data from 5,957 United States military personnel deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan between 2001 and 2013 were analyzed using chi-square tests of independence, odds ratios (OR), and standardized residuals. Analyses showed that female service members were evacuated at higher rates (178 per 100,000) than males (115 per 100,000). When compared to nonmarried females, married females did not present with increased risk of psychiatric aeromedical evacuation on any diagnosis. Married males, however, were more likely to be evacuated than married females for PTSD (OR = 1.98) and TBI (OR = 1.14). Likewise, married males, compared to nonmarried males, were more likely to be evacuated for PTSD (OR = 1.66) and anxiety (OR = 1.38). Although deployments can be extremely stressful experiences for some military service members, they may be especially so among unmarried females and married males. This study provides a unique contribution to enhancing the understanding of risk factors related to psychiatric aeromedical evacuation for deployed service members.

KEYWORDS:

• Role Strain Theory
• PTSD
• gender differences
• psychiatric aeromedical evacuation
• deployed military service members
• marital status

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Julie Collins and Joel Williams for their assistance in the completion of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (BAM) upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer

The views expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not reflect an endorsement by or the official policy or position of the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the U.S. Government.

Previous presentation

This manuscript was previously presented at the 34th annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Washington, DC.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this work was made possible by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Air Force Medical Support Agency (AFMSA) contract FA8650-13-2-6408 executed by the 711th Human Performance Wing.